Road spreading machine



5 Sheets-Sheet 1 A TTORNEYB' A. N. NICKERSON ROAD SPREADING MACHINE Filed June 9. 1928 Aug. 11,- 1331.

jug. ll, 1931.

A. N. NICKERSON ROAD SPREADING MACHINE Filed June 9,' 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. MNM/lemon A TTORNEW Aug. 1l, 1931. A. N. NlcKl-:RsoN

' ROAD SPREADING MACHINE 'ff Fileji June Q 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. AMNa'c/cerson A TTORNEYS Aug. 11, v1931. A. N; NlcKERsoN 1,818,500

ROAD` sPREADINGfMAGHINE l Filed June 9, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. AMA/'ckerson A TTORNE YJ' Aug. 11,1931. A. N. NlcKERsoN ROAD SPREADIG MA'HINE i 4Filed June 9 -1928 5 sheets-sheet 5 bw NN l @i l QN V .m

I N V EN TOR JV Nickerson @m35 SYS A TTORNEX.

Patented Aug. 11, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ALMA N. NICKERSON, OF NEW BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE AS- SIGNMENTS, TO HIGHWAY SERVICE, INCORPORATED, 0F NEW BEDFORD, MASSA- CHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS ROADVSIPREADING MACHINE Original application filed October 11, 1927, Serial No. 225,574.' Divided and this application led June `9,

1928. Serial No. 284,076.

This invention relates to road surfacing machines for spreading sand or peastone or other granular materials or the like having means to evenly distribute the surfacing media in selectivey metered quantities.

This application is a division of' my copending application Serial No. 225,574, filed October l1, 1927, entitled Road spreading machine.

An object of the present invention is to provide a road spreading machine with means for discharging variably metered quantities of the surfacing media to thereby optionally vary the thickness of the spread.

Another object of the invention is to provide an adjustable pivot brush which is angularly disposed with respect 'to the feed roll provided by the hopper, which brush is characterized by its ability to permit large pieces such as rocks or roots or the like to be discharged from the hopper withoutsubstantially disturbing the even thickness of the spread material on the surface of the road.

Another object ofthe invention relates to the provision of a plurality of independently adjustable shutters located within the confines of the hopper, which shutters .are selecf tively operableto vary the width of the hopper outlet vand thereby secure a distribution of the minerals on the' road'of any desired width. e f

Another object of the invention is to provide supplemental sets of adjustable brushes and shutters, functioning as aforesaid, for taking care of space occupied by the wheels of the spreader and by virtue of which the surfacing minerals or materials may be discharged from the entire width of the machine and in advance of the wheels thereof.

The invention further comprehends the idea of pivotally securing the spreader frame to the rear of the tractor in such a manner that the spreader is pushed ahead of the tractor as distinguished from beingpulled thereby, thus serving to distribute the surfacing materials ahead of the tractor and preventing the wheels thereof from picking up tar, etc. Furthermore, by pivotally mounting the spreader frame to the rear of the tractor, a closecoupling of the tractor and spreader is possible, and considerable weight of the hopper is distributed to the rear drivin wheels of the tractor.

A still further object of the invention is -to provide a steering mechanism operable to swing the tractor relative to the spreader to change the angular position of the spreader irrespective of whether the tractor isfin motion or not, if it is desired to utilize the spreader in restricted areas where close handling is necessary.

A still further object of the invention relates to the distributing plates located in a plane below the hopper outlet and which are staggeredly arranged with respect to one another which serve the function of vibrating the discharged minerals and aiding in securidng a more uniform spread thereof on the roa Thereare a multiplicity of subordinate objects of the invention which will vbe apparent to those skilled in the'art from a reading of the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawings attached hereto and forming .a part hereof wherein like reference numerals represent like parts, and in which Y Figure l is a top view .of the Figure 2 is a side elevation, Figures 3, t, and 5 are schematic views showing the various-adjusted positions of the hopper relative to the tractor,

Figure 6 is a view partly in section showing particularly the hopper construction. I Figure 7 is a similar view showing the shutter and brushes provided forY the interior of the apparatus,-`

Figure 8 isa transverse sectional view of apparatus. Y.

the hopper with the shutters mounted thereon, j

Figure 9 is a detailed sectional view,

Figure l0 is a top view partly in section showing the' disposition of the brushes and vibrating fingers,

Figure 11 isa detailed sectional view of the clutching mechanism, and

Figure 12 is a'detail of the tractor hitch.

Referring now more `particularly'to the drawings, l represents the spreader machine generally which is provided with downward'- ly inclining walls constituting a hopper 2.

The spreader is supported by suitable wheels 3 and 4 and has a rearwardly extending frame consisting of side sills 5 and 6 converging in a rearward direction as shown. This spreader is attached to a tractor of any desirable make such as for example, the well known Fordson tractor indicated by reference numeral 7. In order to secure a close coupling of the tractor to the spreader and also `to distribute considerable weight from the hopper to the tractor, the side sills 5 and 6 aforesaid are pivotally secured to the rear axle of the tractor as shown in Fig. 12. This pivotal arrangement consists merely of the U-shaped bracket 8 attached to the axle housing of the tractor and having a rockable plate 9 secured to the same by the bolt 10, which plate is fixedly secured to the side sills 5 and 6 as at 11 and 12. I provide means for changing the angular position of the tractor with respect to the spreader whereby it is possible to swing the tractor when in a stationary position to any desired point of travel illustrated schematically in Figs. 3, 4, and 5. This mechanism includes a hand wheel 13 positioned in proximity to the operator of the tractor and operable to rotate the shaft 14 through the gearing 15 causing a movement of the chain 16 mounted on the sprockets 17 and 18 respectively, causing a rotation of the pinion 19 secured to the tractor in any desired manner. In this connection, it will be observed that the front wheels of the tractor have been removed and the pinion 19 substituted therefor. The rotation of this pinion 19 by a movement of the wheel 13 as aforesaid causes the pinion to ride in an arcuate rack 2O whereby the tractor maybe moved to any desired angular position with respect to the spreader, for instance, as shown in the detailed illustrations found in Figs. 3, 4, and 5.

The spreader is provided with a feed roller 21 cooperating with the outlet provided by thegbottom of the hopper as shown particularly in Fig. 7. This feeding roll 21 is mounted over the fixed axle of the spreader as shown in Fig. 11 and may be brought into operative engagement by actuation of the clutch 22 by means of a suitable control lever 23 whereby the shaft 24 is rotated, moving the header 25 and consequently rotating the feed roller 21. This clutch is preferably of a one-way type, that is to say, it automatically disengages itself from the driving wheel upon an inadvertent backward movement of the spreader. If desired, it is possible to interchangeably use feed rolls of different characters according to the type of material being spread. 26 represents a brush which is angularly disposedwith respect to the feed roll as shown full in Fig. 7. This brush is pivotally mounted to the hopper as V at 27 and may be easily adjusted by the hand wheel 28 located within convenient reach of the operator 0n the platform 29. A The brush is composed of bristles of any desirable material such as flat orround steel wire, ratan, or the like. It will be obvious that the brush may be adjusted from the feed roll to thereby vary the size or thickness of the coat applied to the road. The angular or inclined position of the brush forms a substantially V-shaped pocket for receiving the minerals andlfunctions to vcrowd the minerals against the roll, thus causing the same Vto .pass through the brush. The brush is further characterized by its capability of permitting large pieces such as rocks or roots or thelike to pass through it without substantially disturbing the even spread of the material on the surface of the road. 30 represents what I term a distributor plate consisting of a series of staggeredly varranged spring fingers made of light spring metal. These are in a constant state ofvibration during the operation of the machine and are adapted toreceive the metered minerals and bounce them in all directions, thusaiding in the uniform spread of the material as actually applied to the road.

A very important characteristic of my invention relates to the shutters which are independently operable to control the discharge of minerals at any vdesired point on the road.

These shutters are illustrated by referencenumeral 81 and are selectively adjustable by control levers 32 mounted in proximity to the operators platform 29. The shutters are supported by the inclined wall 33 of the hopper and normally. overhang the feed roll 21 for-the purpose of permitting the easy rota.- tion of the feed roll. In other words, if the weight of the minerals rested entirely upon the feed roll 21, it would be very difficult to cause the rotation thereof. Y

It is highly important in the operation of dressing up the shoulders of roads that some means be provided for regulatingthe width of the material spread as it is not desirable to spread the material used for the shoulders on the road itself. This is easily accomplished by the selective control of the plurality of shutters provided by my invention. Furthermore, in country roads, which are covered with-gravel, or other coarse material, A

it is possible with my invention to fill the ruts alone by manipulation of the shutters as aforesaid without building up the remainder of the surface of the road. Another example of the utility of the selective control of the width of the spread is as follows A tar distributor may spread a streak nine feet wide. If this is covered entirely, the next or overlapping streak of tar will be spread upon the already sanded surface, which is most undesirable asV the tar will. not form a proper bond and much of the value of the waterproofing or sealing coat is lost. Vith the present machine it is possible to cover eight feet of the nine and leave a foot of uncovered tar for the next course to lap over, thus forming a perfect bond.

In order to utilize the entire width of the spreader, I provide supplemental sets of slides, brushes, and distributor plates for taking care of the wheels of the machine. This arrangement is more clearly portrayed in Fig. 6, and comprises independently operable slides 34 having a curved portion 35 conforming to the shape of the wheel and operable by levers 36. It will be obvious that if it is desired to shut off the material from this point of the machine, it is only necessary to shove the lever inwardly, thus causing the slide 34 to close the passage for the minerals. These slides 34, as well as slides 31, may be operated to vary the size of the discharge opening in accordance with the necessities of the occasion. I further provide supplemental brushes 37 on each side of the machine which engage the wheels 3 and 4 respectively for the purpose of supplying variably metered quantities ofminerals. In this case the wheels 3 and 4 act as the feeding rolls. The supplemental brushes are pivotally arranged and angularly disposed with respect to the wheel, and are controllable by the lever 37 running along the side of the hopper as shown in Fig. 2. The hopper is shaped as shown in Fig. 8 for the purpose of providing elevated pockets A and B overhanging the wheels. Ordinarily, there will be a sufficient amount of minerals in these pockets A and B to take care of the spread at these points of the machine, but obviously any desired means may be employed for taking the minerals from the main portion of the hopper and delivering them to the pockets provided in the slides thereof. The supplemental distributor plates 38 are located below the brushes and function in the same manner as the main distributing device 30. By discharging the minerals by the supplemental brushes and distributor plates, the spread is applied in advance of the point where the wheels engage the surface, thus preventing the Wheels from picking up substantial quantities of tar and of slipping. The supplemental brushes 34 are formed of bristles of differential lengths in order that the brushes will engage both the top and sides of the tires. As a further means of preventing tar from adhering to the wheels, I provide a tankfor supplying a suitable solution such as kerosene. This is represented by reference numeral 40 having a filling spout 4l and a valvular control 42. The kerosene discharges into the tray 43 provided with a sheet of absorbent material 44 which applies the kerosene to the wheel as at 45. The hopper has a door 46 for permitting a loading therefrom from the front. The door is pivoted as at 47.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that the machine may be readily coupled to a suitable tractor by merely taking off the front wheels of the tractor and applying the sprocket pinion 19 thereto and pivotally mounting the rear ends of the wheels 5 and 6 to the rear axle of the tractor. This arrangement possesses the advantages above discussed. By virtue of the independently operable shutters, the width of the spread may be varied as desired according to the type of work necessary or materials used. On the other hand, the brushes are employed for the purpose of regulating the size or thickness of the coat. The supplemental brushes and shutters possess the advantages aforesaid, nam ely, using the entire width of the machine for discharging surfacing media if desired.

The term hopper as employed herein is intended to include any suitable receptacle for receiving the surfacing materials.` The term brush is intended to include any device which will function substantially in the. manner described and is not to be strictly limited to the conventionally known brush.

-While I have sho-wn and described one preferred embodiment of my invention, yet it is not my desire to be limited to the exact arrangement or construction of parts as I realize that these may be varied without departing from the spirit of my invention as expressed in the following claim.

What I claim is:

A road building machine of the character described, comprising a wheeled hopper, having a rearwardly extending frame consisting of side sills convergingly disposed, and pivotally secured at their rear ends to the rear axle of a tractor, said tractor being adapted to push the wheeled hopper, means for changing the relative angular-positions of the tractor and the side vframes of the hopper, said means comprising an arcuately shapedrack bar positioned between the converging sills of the hopper, a steering mechanism located vin proximity to the driver of the tractor and including a pinion located beneath the front end of the tractor and operably connected with the rack bar and adapted to move the tractor to different angular positions whereby to steer the hopper in any predetermined courseof travel.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature.V

ALMA N. NICKERSON.

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